The Maybelline Story
Room VIII · The Studio

Rudolph Valentino’s Villa in the Hollywood Hills becomes “Maybelline West” headquarters

By Sharrie Williams · Written April 2021 · 1 min read

The Villa Valentino: a showplace in the Hollywood Hills.

Rudolph Valentino’s Villa in the Hollywood Hills becomes “Maybelline West” headquarters

Rudolph Valentino’s Villa in the Hollywood Hills becomes “Maybelline West” headquarters


The statue, Aspiration over looking the pool.


Rudolph Valentino’s Villa in the Hollywood Hills becomes “Maybelline West” headquarters

  Read more about Aspiration:  http://dispatches-from-hollywood.com/2011/12/the-sheik-of-de-longpre-park/


Valentino’s sudden death at 31 from a ruptured ulcer caused worldwide hysteria, several suicides, and riots at his funeral. These same crowds of women haunted the Villa Valentino in Whitley Heights for many years. Even after Tom Lyle bought the Villa Valentino, he had to keep grieving women at bay.

Read more about the Villa Valentino in The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.

Coming soon · Next from Sharrie Williams

Maybe She’s Born With It

The next chapter of the Maybelline family story. Get a text the day it’s out.

Where it began: The Maybelline Story — Amazon · Ebook · Signed copy

© 2026 Sharrie Williams · All photographs from the Williams family archive